4 Alternative Medicine Practices for Managing Grief, Loss, Or Trauma
Grief, loss, and trauma can be overwhelming, but alternative medicine offers unique approaches to healing. This article explores four powerful practices, including ketamine therapy and Ayurveda, that can transform the recovery process. Drawing on insights from experts in the field, readers will discover how these methods can cultivate self-awareness, emotional balance, and holistic well-being during challenging times.
- Ketamine Therapy Transforms Grief Experience
- Meditation Cultivates Self-Awareness and Purpose
- Heart-Focused Breathing Harmonizes Emotional Healing
- Ayurveda Balances Elements for Holistic Recovery
Ketamine Therapy Transforms Grief Experience
Ketamine-assisted therapy has been transformative in my personal grief work, perhaps, in part, because of its dissociative nature. Ketamine tends to create a space in which it's possible to feel a strong emotion, like grief, but not be overwhelmed by it. As a therapist, I've noticed that ketamine is helpful for clients in that they are able to feel the immensity of an emotion without becoming frozen or paralyzed. Ketamine tends to help dissolve rigid thought patterns and protective mechanisms that can keep one stuck in grief, instead allowing for the possibility of a more fluid and embodied experience of loss. Tears and sadness flow more easily. Working with ketamine in a therapeutic setting has allowed me to witness my pain with compassion rather than resistance, facilitating a deeper integration of my experiences rather than just managing symptoms. I've noticed similar breakthroughs with my clients regarding all the above—ketamine seems to soften the edges of traumatic grief, allowing people to connect with their authentic feelings while maintaining a sense of safety and perspective. This modality has taught me that healing grief isn't about "getting over it" but rather developing a more flexible and loving relationship with the pain, ultimately expanding one's capacity for both sorrow and joy.
Meditation Cultivates Self-Awareness and Purpose
Hello,
I have been practicing some form of meditation, Qi Gong, Reiki, and Yoga daily since 1991.
Meditation has been the most consistent form of practice, so I will share about that. These practices sometimes meld together, morphing into a combined practice.
First and foremost, it is extremely important not to turn your practice into a "30-day challenge" or something to check off a list as "getting things done".
The experience itself is the goal.
It started simply: I spent five or ten months reflecting on a spiritual text or reading. After that, I shifted to breath counting or something similar for a couple of decades.
At first, the only real "benefit" was to prevent me from doing something from the minute I got out of bed until I returned to bed at night.
Next, I learned who I was, am, and am about to become, which felt helpful. This expanded into receiving insight, wisdom, and intuition about my life and work in the world, which felt incredibly nourishing.
I slowly but surely started noticing how much more focused and grounded I was. My sense of purpose became clearer.
These days, my practice is more about sustainability and staying present than anything else.
Hope this helps!
Peace,
Michael Swerdloff
Heart-Focused Breathing Harmonizes Emotional Healing
One alternative medicine practice I have found helpful for managing grief, loss, and trauma is the heart-focused breathing technique. The heart-focused breathing technique, which guides you into breathing through your heart space for a period of time, creates harmony - better known as coherence - between the heart, brain, and body. This can lead to greater calm, emotional regulation and release, and overall rebalance of the body. As a certified HeartMath trauma-sensitive practitioner and one who has experienced complex grief and trauma, this technique has worked wonders as a complementary practice coupled with other therapeutic modalities for my emotional healing and the clients I serve.
Ayurveda Balances Elements for Holistic Recovery
The holistic healing science of Ayurveda teaches us that in the space of loss - or emptiness - there is an opportunity to fill the space with elements that nurture our well-being. As the science of the elements, we can see and experience earth, water, fire, air, and space in all things. These elements also combine to create the three doshas - Kapha (earth and water), Pitta (fire and water), and Vata (air and space). Vata dosha - or the elements of air and space - governs the space of loss and grieving with many emotions that are driven by the erratic, ungrounded, and cold nature of air and ether: fear, anxiety, and overwhelm.
The golden rule of healing in Ayurveda is "like increases like and opposites balance." When we bring in the opposing qualities to Vata Dosha - or, when we emphasize the elements inherent to Pitta and Kapha Doshas (fire, earth, and water) - we can create balance in the body and in the mind. This includes warm, nurturing foods, herbs, and spices from fresh, whole food sources. Also, we emphasize practices that support grounding and fluidity such as yoga slow flows or gentle walks in nature or on the beach. Additionally, we have an opportunity every day to create warmth and stability in our environment by honoring our morning self-care routines, perhaps giving ourselves a warm oil massage before bed, and surrounding ourselves with nurturing relationships that most support us in our time of need.
When the throes of grief start to pull us away from ourselves, many simple Ayurvedic practices offer us a path back to that which most nurtures our healing.
